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Round-up: Allianz HL D2, D3, and D4 action

Liam McKinney scored two goals for Donegal in a famous win over Kerry. 

Liam McKinney scored two goals for Donegal in a famous win over Kerry. 

Allianz Hurling League round-up

DIVISION TWO RESULTS

DONEGAL 5-14 KERRY 3-16

DERRY 0-17 KILDARE 2-25

MEATH v DOWN POSTPONED

Donegal secured arguably one of the most famous results in the county’s hurling history this afternoon, as they came from six points behind at half-time against Kerry to record a memorable four-point win at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny.

This was the first time that Donegal ever played a Munster county in the Allianz League and when they went in at half-time 1-10 to 2-1 in arrears, there was no indication that the crowd in Letterkenny were about to witness a famous victory for the Tír Chonaill county.

Goals from Conor Gartland and Liam McKinney meant that they weren’t completely out of range at the break, and when Peter Kelly opened the second half with their third goal, the Kingdom knew they were in a tight battle.

Donegal controlled the third quarter to move two ahead by the 50th minute and they doubled that advantage with ten to play, before Tom Doyle’s goal and an Oisín Maunsell point for Kerry tied the contest up again.

The home side’s reply was superb, with McKinney scoring his second goal and setting up another for Rúairi Campbell, with Declan Coulter’s insurance point giving them the cushion to concede a late goal Ronan Walsh and still prevail.

With Down’s game in Trim postponed, Kildare took a huge step towards promotion with their comprehensive win over Derry at Celtic Park yesterday, where David Qualter (0-9), Darragh Melville (1-6) and Jack Sheridan (1-2) led the way on the scoring front for the Lily Whites.

Sheridan struck his goal in the first half while Melville split the uprights four times from play as Kildare took a 1-17 to 0-6 lead, leaving Derry with far too much to do. Christy McNaughton fired over 11 points for the hosts as they showed a bit more life up front, but never looked like reeling in the deficit.

DIVISION THREE

MAYO 1-17 LONDON 2-16

WICKLOW 4-19 ROSCOMMON 2-13

CAVAN v ARMAGH POSTPONED

Wicklow’s 12-point win over Roscommon at Bray Emmets GAA club today might look comfortable, but it was anything but as the Garden County hit three injury time goals, two from the stick of Pádraig Doyle either side of another from Torna Mulconry, to see of a resilient Roscommon challenge.

Doyle also found the net after five minutes and when he split the uprights five minutes later, the Garden County were 1-5 to 0-1 in front and dominant.

The lead was out to nine points before Conor Mulry, Jack Dowling and Brendan Mulry hit three points in as many minutes approaching half-time, but Wicklow hit back with scores from Luke Evans and Ronan McMahon to lead by eight at the interval.

That lead was gone by the 47th minute, the bulk of the work done when Dowling and Cian Murray raised green flags in the space of a minute, but their failure to score after Jack McGahon’s equaliser in the 55th minute was their undoing.

Wicklow gave themselves a little bit of breathing room when two David Maloney scores and then a Seánie Germaine point put three between the sides, with ten tense minutes brought to a close by Wicklow’s late goal flurry.

London had to dig deep into their reserves of grit and resolve at the Connacht Centre of Excellence yesterday to hold off a late surge from Mayo, who looked like they might overtake the 14-man Exiles in the closing stages.

A combination of Mayo mistakes and the aid, or to put it more accurately, the absence of a hindrance, from the tricky diagonal breeze, helped London to lead by 1-8 to 0-6 at the end of a scrappy first half. Enda Egan’s point from a sideline cut and Evan Kelly’s goal were the highlight moments, and when Egan added a second goal early in the second half, they had a strong foothold in the game and looked set to extend their strong start to the season.

Points from Liam Lavin and Cormac Phillips kept Mayo in the game however, and when Shane Boland found the net, quickly followed by Niall Eames’ second yellow card, it felt like the comeback was within reach.

David Devine and Seán Glynn had other ideas, nailing three tricky frees to see London over the line.

DIVISION FOUR

MONAGHAN 3-19 WARWICKSHIRE 0-15

LONGFORD 2-12 LANCASHIRE 2-10

LOUTH 0-13 LEITRIM 1-10

Clones was the venue yesterday for Monaghan’s 13-point win over Warwickshire, where the home side kept their visitors to just five points from play over the course of 70 minutes in good conditions at St. Tiernach’s Park.

James Slevin shot four from play for Monaghan with Niall Garland hitting 1-7, with just three points of those coming from placed balls.

Oran Kiernan set up Shane Slevin for the first Farney County goal before half time to establish a five-point lead, and they inched further and further ahead, establishing a double figure lead with Emmet Walsh’s goal in the 55th minute and then extending the gap through Garland in stoppage time.

It was much tighter down the road at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, where Longford hung on to secure a 2-12 to 2-10 win over Lancashire.

Reuben Murray got started on his run to a 1-6 tally when he goaled in the early exchanges, and Longford led by six points at one stage before Colin McNamara found the net for Lancashire, in between points for his colleagues Eoghan Clifford and Peter Boylan.

Evan Tully steadied Longford with a crucial point and the home side never fell behind from there on. Dylan Hennessy and Clifford traded goals in the second half but with both sides struggling to measure the blustery wind, a couple of late frees from Pádraic Burke weren’t enough for Lancashire to take something from the game.

Louth hit their first speed bump of the season this afternoon in Darver, where they trailed by a goal at half-time against Leitrim and just about salvaged a share of the spoils despite adding just five points in the second half of a windswept encounter at their training centre.